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Thursday, May 18, 2017

How American Politics Render Forced Treatment Unconstitutional

Despite what many say, the election of President Trump may well end up being a blessing in disguise for all of us American mad ones. At no time in U.S. history has it been clearer that factual reality is subjective. At no time in U.S. history has it been clearer that there is no reliable, agreed upon consensual reality. This is not just a matter of the Presidency. The U.S. Congress is not legislating the same factual reality. The U.S. media is not publishing the same factual reality. The American people are not voting in the same factual reality.

In other words, if present day politics do nothing else, they expose how clearly factual reality can become a matter of opinion between people who do not trust or like each other. They also expose the extent to which concepts like factual reality (‘the truth’) and public safety (‘danger to self or others’) are in the eye of the beholder.

If this is the case for the most important institutions in the United States – the Presidency, the Congress, the electoral process, the media - then how much moreso for Hometown USA? Our national level institutions have nearly unlimited power and resources available to them to ‘clear things up’, yet they still can't get on anything close to 'the same page’ on factual reality or the common welfare. So how can we expect Hometown USA - with its comparatively small resources and plethora of communities, neighborhoods, families and organizations - to have anything like heterogeneity with regard to such issues? To the contrary, when people from all kinds of backgrounds and circumstances mix and mingle in all kinds of life situations and contexts, who really knows what goes on behind locked doors or shuttered windows, in dark allies or attics or basements, in abandoned buildings or schools or offices, in isolated cells or back rooms or bathroom stalls… ? Who is to say what is ‘really real’ here and whose angle on what is ‘true’ is more valid or less self-serving than anyone else’s…?

Equally important, who is to say who or what constitutes a ‘danger to self or others’ in the modern era? The American people arguably elected the veritable definition of 'danger to self and others' as Commander-in-Chief of the world’s most powerful military. Yep, we elected a rash, reactive, aggressive, confirmed self-dealer who many believe is out of touch with conventional reality as President of the United States. Since the election, our elected representative of choice has unilaterally acted to drop some of the most powerful bombs in the world on other sovereign peoples. By all appearances, he made this momentous decision while entertaining foreign dignitaries and eating dessert. This same elected representative has ordered the displacement and deportation of thousands of vulnerable people who have virtually no recourse. He has appointed heads of agencies who may well destroy the missions and purposes that their agencies were founded to protect, leaving the American people irrevocably damaged and with little recourse. Adding insult to injury, the President and Congress we elected are in the process of dismantling national healthcare, asserting as justification that ‘nobody every died for lack of healthcare.’ All the while, these decisions which literally affect the safety and welfare of millions, rest on unsupported factual assertions that countless citizens dispute.

Suffice it to say, where ever you are on the political spectrum, the implications for ‘mental illness’ are pretty clear. There is no longer a legitimate government interest in pre-emptively stripping citizens of rights on ‘mental illness’ grounds. Here is why:

1. Factual Un-reality in Normal

If the President, the Congress, the media, and the American people can’t agree on factual reality – and seemingly don’t care – then why should it matter if ordinary folks don’t agree either. The day has come to recognize that being out of sync with conventional understandings of reality happens for all kinds of complicated reasons. This can no longer be assumed to be a sign of illness.

The mental health system has not even begun to grapple with the implications of this. It has simply assumed that factual unreality meant illness. Either (1) that is no longer the case, or (2) half the USA should be institutionalized. And if #2, then who should decide which half?

Unless and until the mental health system begins to grapple with questions like these, its labels can’t be said to be reliable or to indicate anything. Ergo, 'mental illness' is no longer a valid criteria for separating mental ‘wheat’ from mental ‘chaff.’ It therefore may not be used to impose treatment or supervision without consent.

2. Danger to Self and Others is Normal

If the President, the Congress, the media, and the American people can’t agree on major issues like national security and public safety – i.e., what makes citizens safer and what doesn’t – then we should reasonably expect that ordinary people around the nation won’t agree either. The day has come to recognize that being out of sync with conventional understandings of public safety – and what kind of thoughts, feelings and actions constitute a danger for self or others - happens for all kinds of complicated reasons. Conventional and majority understandings of safety can no longer be assumed correct or accurate for all citizens.

The mental health system has not even begun to grapple with the implications of this. It has simply assumed that majority standards equated with ‘safe’ or ‘unsafe.’ As we have seen at the national level, either (1) that is no longer the case, or (2) half the voting public constitutes a danger to self or others. And if #2, then who should decide which half?

Unless and until the mental health system begins to grapple with questions like these, its determinations of safety and danger can’t be said to be reliable or to indicate anything. In other words, so long as people are acting within the law and exercising their lawful rights as citizens, risk to self or others is no longer a valid criteria for pre-emptive detention. It therefore may not be used to impose treatment or supervision without consent.

3. Political and Public Figure Privilege is Discriminatory

There is a huge double standard in American political and public life. The little guy who is in dispute with family or neighbors can get removed from life and hauled off with a simple call to 911. Not so, however, with politicians who bomb other countries, abolish residency status or wipe out access to healthcare for millions of Americans based on faulty premises. Politicians, public figures and media personalities can invent reality and use their lawful power in ways that literally terrify thousands and threaten domestic security. In contrast, the little guy with an unconventional view who lawfully exercises power in ways that scares family or neighbors can be yanked out of life, forcibly detained and forcibly treated by psychiatry. Even worse, to regain their civil rights, they must satisfy authorities that they no longer present any significant risk to self or others.

Why is there one standard when politicians, public figures or the media see facts differently - and another standard when individuals see facts differently from families, neighbors and psychiatrists…? Why are psychiatrists and mental health professionals routinely allowed to bully ordinary people but not politicians, public figures and media personalities?

These arbitrary distinctions violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. They are especially unfair when you consider the amount of harm the little guy can effect - which frankly pales by comparison to the destructive power of national level actors.

4. Legitimate Government Interest is Gone

Under federal constitutional standards, deprivation of rights must be rationally related to a legitimate Government purpose. Thus, to deprive citizens of rights like freedom, privacy and personal integrity for mental health or public safety reasons, the Government must have (1) a rational reason, and (2) a legitimate purpose. In view of recent political events, the Government can no longer make this showing.

Fictional Realities No Longer Qualify

Again, the American people either don’t care – or can’t agree - about factual reality at the ‘big’ level of national security and national survival. So how is it rational to meddle in the comparatively minor factual realities of local citizens who have far less influence and can do far less damage?

Lawful Dangers No Longer Qualify

Again, the American people either don’t care – or can’t agree - about the public safety risks presented by national-level political, public and media actors. These groups are allowed to exercise their lawful discretionary powers with no requirement that they demonstrate safety to self or others. So, how is it rational to insist that local citizens – with far less reach and potential impact - prove they present no appreciable risk to self or others as a pre-condition of accessing and exercising lawful rights?

How it All Adds Up

If you’ve followed this so far, I hope you’re getting more than a good chuckle We used to do math proofs in high school algebra based on the idea of reductio ad absurdum. Essentially you show that an argument - taken to its logical conclusion – leads to something ridiculous, impractical or absurd.

Well, here's one fer ya!

Who would ever think that Corporate America and the Republican Party would lay the foundation for the recognition of diverse realities – much less the personhood of those of us who live them?

At the same time, I like to think that the tools we need to dismantle injustice are built into the very societal structures that have been used to maintain it. Quite possibly that is what we are seeing here. At the very least, the American bedfellows of free market enterprise and semi-representative democracy have produced some remarkably inane results of late. The collective insanity they have hatched is now so prevalent and pervasive as to make insanity 'normal.' They have so convincingly cloned the cultural parameters of ‘mental illness’ that the historic boundaries used to differentiate 'sane' from 'insane' no longer make any sense.

The U.S. Constitution requires at least some modicum of legitimate, rational purpose to deprive citizens of civil rights. Given the current state of the nation, governmental entities can no longer make this showing related to 'mental illness.'

5 comments:

I doubt that these 'new' rights will have any impact on the forward movement or profit-desire that drives big-pharma-companies.Also will it not mean that the psychiatrist will make a significant change in the trend of exaggerating diagnoses to prolong treatments and increase of medication-descriptions. Many psychiatrist need to protect their financial interest because they've become too used to their annual side-income derived from their affiliations with pharma-companies. I do hope off course that my assessment is wrong and emotional-intellect will prevail and slow down the speed of the trend I just described. I sincerely wish that the attention that is directed at children will subside and common sense in the psychiatric community will resurface and regain control regarding discussions on this matter.I know the next is far fetched and is on the whole nothing but a delusion on my part but humanities continence will benefit from a fresh wind blowing through the ranks of all levels of society in order to enable global psychiatry to conceive and implement lasting positive change.I'm neither positive nor negative, yet still a bit anxious which I may hope doesn't imply that general consensus is I should take medication, cause that would really solve none of the problems and only temper symptomes perceived and discard global sentiment on the issue....Godspeed everyone, Be well & Stay Strong...

Alain Bos - you make so many good points here. The obstacles people are up against are vast and pervasive. The ambition here in writing this is a comparatively small one. The hope is to raise consciousness - and to equip those most affected to raise consciousness of others in their circles - that this thing we call 'madness' is happening everywhere in society. It is not that some people are mad and others aren't. It is that powerful people get their madness co-signed by powerful others and conventional wannabees, whereas relatively powerless people have their differences used against them - and as a result, end up stripped of even the tiny assets, resources and voice that they have.

Miss Knutson, this was my intention too (raise consciousness) and since my kundalini-activation (is not kundalini-yoga) things follow up quickly when they appear in my life. Yesterday, after writing the above comment, I went to the pharmacy to pick up 10 pills of Lorazepam. @home I stumbled on a post by someone that led me on a 10+ hours of watching documentaries, reading webpages and overall getting a grip on the matter of 'benzodiazedpams' a.k.a. benzo'sI'll post three links here that will enlighten anyone who ever got a prescription for anxiety, stress, sleeplessness etc...1] https://vimeo.com/188181193 - here's the main documentary2] http://www.benzo.org.uk/manual/index.htm - here you click your language (flags) to read the most important manual ever !3] https://www.facebook.com/WorldBenzoDay - JULY 11th - World Benzo Awareness Day 2017 , 2nd edition !!

I only dare post this comment with links because there are literally millions of Americans, Europeans and many others who used a benzo-prescription once in their life - I may hope that soon the mental-health-sector will put a ban on benzodiazepines.....

but weird huh, all this "happened or manifested" in the last 24 hours and I know now already that today or tomorrow something completely unexpected will be prominently 'visible' in my life, it has been like this for the last 2 , 3 weeks... ?!-)

There's one thing (many many many :-) I'd like to add to your equation :"congress and the president both have no real influence on the policy they themselves set. Nor is corporate America capable of steering these politicians. It's what president Trump has been uttering from day 1 : deep state does exist and in its toolbox there is a global army-force that enforces hidden-secret-unwritten-law.Now, if you are smiling because you knew this to be true I'm happy , all others can surf to https://www.getyourtinfoilhatshere.org/index.htm and read the 404 it has to offer.

Next addition or correction, you wonder why politicians are above scrutiny concerning their mental-health and not hauled away when Syria places an international call to 911 ? Well, that has to do with the treaties of Paris & Versailles of whichin the 1st 4 or 5 lines the powerbase is divided among the new (and old) proprietress and the rest of the treaty is just blabla to commemorate the end of the old and begin of the new era. In the treaty of Paris (1st few lines) is stated :"in the name of the most holy and undivided Trinity" which means the Pope and the free-states of London (this is an area near London-city) , free state of Washington and off course the free state of the Vatican. - now i cannot find a complete 1st page of both treaties but I'm sure that you miss. Knutson can and are also able to solve the riddle of where it is stated that America is under martial-law (this is on the 1st page and 1st few lines in the treaty of Versailles I think)

I don't want to disrespect you in any way ; I myself was brought up citing this proza and still do whenever I visit church on Sunday (more than a few times a year) but here it goes: Our Father (the pope) who is in Heaven (the Vatican) thou name be holy, thou will shall be done here on earth as it is in heaven.... Prior to Christianity being the main religion in the middle ages, 'Christians' never mentioned a Father of all people, nor was Jesus the 'son of' - in the preaches that Jesus gave he revered to the Tora where was stated "we are all brothers and sisters" meaning equal. And God was another name for the Global-Mind we all occupy consciously these days.Next on the menu is ;-) well, i could go on with histories 'no longer' secrets because there are literally millions of dedicated websites who are difficult for deep-state to control....

Okay, 1 last thing - the thing that was more secret than the H-bomb prior to the bombing of Nagasaki & Hiroshima is ?? exactly : The 50th birthday of the discovery of aliens and UFO's ! And soon we will be witness by a attack made by man-made-space-craft and man-made aliens to incite the new globalization of governments (deep-state is already global) and the all out "War On Space !" campaign.If you want to hide something very secret, you hide it in plane sight. You will ridicule it so bad that no intelligent man or woman or scientist dares to speak openly about the subject, nor make public statements on the issue....

To return full circle to your article miss. Knutson : if there was only truth , no lie could hold someone down. But in today's society one is teached at an early age the first lie followed by many others until lying is the accepted truth everyone agrees up on .... : "dogma rules everywhere and stigma enforces it's implications on those who deviate .... - we are our own worst enemy but still point the finger elsewhere...."

_this_ response you made to Alain (above) is a wonderful quote (and to me summarizes much of the essence of this post). "powerful people get their madness co-signed by powerful others and conventional wannabees, whereas relatively powerless people have their differences used against them - and as a result, end up stripped of even the tiny assets, resources and voice that they have". Cheers